Is it all about religious faith? Exploring the value of contemporary pilgrimage among senior travelers

This study explores the values of pilgrimage exhibited by senior travelers in Taiwan. We identify and explore both spiritual and social values by applying means-end chain theory and the laddering technique. This study investigates the hierarchical relationship among pilgrimage attributes, the consequences that senior pilgrims obtained, and the satisfaction of personal values as an ultimate goal. The clear links are found among attributes, consequences, and values with social interactions that are acquired by keeping in touch with friends, followed by spiritual succor and support that connects with supporting temples, praying, and vow redemption. These findings provide novel insights into pilgrimage literature.     

Existential walking

This paper analyses Camøno, a pilgrim route on the island of Møn in Denmark, through the lens of existentialist philosophy. The theoretical framework draws on literature focusing on contemporary pilgrimage tourism and existentialism, as presented in Walter Kaufmann's works. The analysis is based on empirical material comprised of Instagram images shared by the pilgrims. The coding and analysis of the data combines a thematic and a metaphorical visual method. The findings show a strong resonance between the experience as portrayed by the pilgrims and core aspects of existentialist thought. They reveal the importance of nature and simple living and the limits to commercialisation and institutionalised religiosity. The study prompts us to rethink our understanding of the interconnection between spirituality and tourism.     

Heterogeneity of motivations and conflicts in pilgrim-to-pilgrim interaction: A research on the way of Saint James

Customer-to-customer interaction constraints are key points in services management. The topic has been studied in the tourism field, but remains under-researched in a pilgrimage context. This paper discusses conflicts in pilgrim-to-pilgrim interaction along the path to sacred places, and in the connected tourist and hospitality services, that emerge from the heterogeneity of motivations to go on pilgrimage. An ethnographic research on the Way of Saint James was conducted. The researchers walked alongside with pilgrims driven by different motivations and experienced situations of interaction among them. This study suggests that interactions of purist with non-purist pilgrims may result in conflicts, discomfort and judgement due to differences in experiencing the pilgrimage. This paper discusses the challenges faced and provides recommendations for hospitality managers operating in pilgrimage areas to address different needs and expectations and thus minimise conflict-prone interactions.     

Ramadan: The month of fasting for Muslims,and tourism studies — Mapping the unexplored connection

This study supplies the Islamic worldview to the tourism literature in order to expand the current denotations associated to key words such as ‘travel’, ‘traveler’ and ‘pilgrimage’. It explores the month of fasting for Muslims: Ramadan, and its association to pilgrimage. The findings of the study indicate that Ramadan being the month of interior pilgrimage offers a strong link to the deep rooted connection between pilgrimage and tourism studies and is a promising area of exploration in conjunction with the unmapped link of interior pilgrimage and tourism studies. The study unearths Ramadan seasonality and Ramadan events in the settings of United Arab Emirates where currently during the Ramadan seasonality the interior pilgrims are facilitated by community events that are largely organized by the relevant tourism authorities. The study proposes further areas of research with reference to: interior pilgrimage, Ramadan seasonality and community events.     

Fundamentalist Christian pilgrimages as a political and cultural force

Based on fieldwork on a Midwestern American grassroots organization that conducts evangelical tours to Israel, this paper seeks to enrich analysis of the pilgrimage experience by suggesting a more contextualized approach to its study. To illustrate the implementation of the contextualized perspective, three thematic examples from the fieldwork are presented: men's emotional expression; religious deeds and their political meanings; and a case on the theo-political symbolism embedded in evangelical pilgrimage itineraries. It is argued that understanding not only the theological but also the historical, socio-cultural and political contexts in which evangelical tours operate can illuminate the way individual pilgrims construe meaning during their travel experiences. The paper concludes by suggesting that each of the examined examples illustrates the role of the pilgrimage as a cohesive force in the evangelical sub-culture.     

The salience of stakeholders in religious tourism: A case study of the Dajia Mazu pilgrimage

Previous studies have focused on the relationship between religious tourism and some of its stakeholders. However, tourism's success relies on the commitment of all stakeholders. Based on stakeholder theory, this study assesses the stakeholder salience of a mass folk religious pilgrimage, the Dajia Mazu pilgrimage in Taiwan, by using fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The results indicate that temples, pilgrims, and host communities are more important than tourists, environment, businesses, and governmental bodies. Among the 18 contributions of all stakeholders, pilgrims' engagement, organizing temple management, food and drink sharing, host communities' engagement, and supporting temples' assistance are the most important. Organizers and administrators therefore need to identify key stakeholders and prioritize their contributions in managing pilgrimages and religious tourism.     

World Youth Day: Contemporaneous pilgrimage and hospitality

This paper highlights the connection between domestic hospitality and pilgrimage as performances of religion in action, arguing that domestic hosting enhances “liminal” and “communitas” experiences during the contemporary pilgrimage of the World Youth Day 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Domestic hospitality, an under-researched topic, is a significant aspect of this Catholic pilgrimage. Qualitative methods, including participant observation over the 18 months of preparation leading up to and during the event, were used to collect data. This paper discusses host-guest relationships, reasons for hosting strangers at no charge, and the establishment of a communitas set. The findings reveal that through domestic hospitality, pilgrims and their hosts families became closer, sharing similar experiences of reinforced religious identities.     

Exploring the dialectics of route-based tourism: the Camino de Santiago

In its specific concern with route-based itineraries, this paper examines the complex tensions and conflicts that ensue from the marketing of cultural artefacts as tourism commodities. The paper analyses the characteristics and trends of the contemporary utilization of the medieval pilgrimage routes to the Galician shrine of Santiago de Compostela and distinguishes between the differing tourist sub-markets and their contrasting motivations in consuming this heritage complex. This discussion is linked with an assessment of the more subtle modifications of religious meaning by tourism activity, which pose particular problems in formulating strategies to promote this form of cultural itinerary. In proposing a synthetic model that combines the conflicting motivations and demands of pilgrims and tourists, the paper points to the need for critical awareness among those whose brief and interest lie in sustaining the integrity of route-based cultural tourism.     

What drives pilgrims' experiential supportive intentions and desires towards religious destinations?

This study examines the role of pilgrim's experiential risk, experiential motivation, and experiential loyalty towards the experiential relationship quality, supportive intentions, and desires at religious destinations. For Study 1, data were collected from 374 pilgrims (Sikh community) who visited Pakistan during their religious event (Vaisakhi). For Study 2, data were collected from 381 pilgrims (Malaysian Chinese) who visited Chinese temples in Kedah, Malaysia. PLS-SEM is employed to analyze the data. The findings revealed that experiential risk, motivation, and loyalty significantly impact experiential relationship quality, experiential supportive intentions, and experiential desire. Moreover, experiential relationship quality also plays a pivotal role in increasing the pilgrims` experiential supportive intentions and desires to visit the pilgrimage destination. This study contributes to the existing literature and will be helpful for the tourism authorities to reduce the consumer's experiential risk and enhance their loyalty and intention towards the holy destinations.     

Motives for a secular pilgrimage to the Gallipoli battlefields

Pilgrimage is a journey to a non-substitutable site embodying the highly valued, the deeply meaningful, or a source of core identity for the traveller. Secular pilgrimage is an important yet under-researched sector of the tourism industry. Where the motives for religious pilgrimage are well documented, little is known of the motives for secular pilgrimages. This paper presents the results of an empirical investigation of one case of secular pilgrimage, the journey of Australians and New Zealanders to the Gallipoli battlefields in Turkey. Five distinct motives for visits to the pilgrimage site are identified – spiritual, nationalistic, family pilgrimage, friendship and travel motives – and differences in their importance noted across seven visitor groups. These motives share some commonality with the motives for religious pilgrimage, and conversely, with the motives for leisure tourism; yet, other motives are unique to the secular pilgrimage. Suggestions for future research on secular pilgrimage are provided.     

Lithuanian valuistic journeys: traditional and secular pilgrimage

The article deals with valuistic journeys from Lithuania. There are many reasons for undertaking valuistic journeys, the most important being personal values, personal and social identities, life experiences, lifestyle enhancement, spirituality and social and cultural influences. The two main types of Lithuanian valuistic journeys are presented in this paper: traditional religious and secular pilgrimages. The paper examines the most popular religious destinations for Lithuanians abroad and describes the most important secular destinations and events. The concept of organized valuistic journeys consists of the agreement between the identities of pilgrims and others, where social identities are marked by meanings and symbols. Valuistic journeys have overwhelmingly been structured by the desire to validate identities and reflect upon them during travel.     

Pilgrimage,consumption and rituals: Spiritual authenticity in a Shia Muslim pilgrimage

A critical dimension of pilgrimage is arguably pilgrims' experience, in particular the authenticity of their experience. The aim of the study is to understand how authenticity is evoked in a religious pilgrimage and the relationship between authenticity, rituals and consumption. The research contributes ethnographic insights from a lesser known, yet significant, Muslim pilgrimage called Ziyara-t-Arba'een. In so doing, pilgrimages are conceptualised as a quest for spiritual authenticity, a hybrid form of existential, ideological and objective authenticity. The findings section leads to a discussion of the ways in which spiritual authenticity is realised through rituals and the consumption of texts, material objects and space. The contribution of this paper is threefold: 1) it explores the different dimensions of authenticity in a pilgrimage experience; 2) it examines the role of material culture and ritual consumption in achieving forms of authenticity; and 3) it broadens the understanding of the pilgrimage as a context-bound and culturally specific phenomenon.     

Carrying capacity analysis and destination development: a case study of Gangotri tourists/pilgrims’ circuit in the Himalaya

The Himalaya has numerous natural, cultural, aesthetic, and adventurer tourists/pilgrims’ destinations, which are the major source of income and employment to the local people and revenue generation to the government. Meanwhile, tourism carrying capacity of these destinations is poor and thus tourism development could not take shape. This article examines carrying capacity and destination development of the Gangotri tourists/pilgrims’ circuit, which is also known as Gangotri eco-sensitive zone. We conducted this study using both qualitative and quantitative approaches, in which we collected data on tourists/pilgrims flow, accommodation, transportation, and infrastructural facilities. Primary data were collected through interview of 160 persons of 8 tourists/pilgrims centres who are involved in tourism activities. Further, we employed a participatory observation method after an extensive visit of Gangotri tourisms/pilgrims circuit in January 2017. Secondary data were collected from the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board, Dehradun. We used correlation and rank method and analysed infrastructural facilities, carrying capacity dimensions, proposed destination development model for the circuit, and observed that a sustainable tourism development may enhance economic activities such as income generation and employment augmentation as the whole circuit obtains natural, cultural, and aesthetic importance.     

Performing the “post-secular” in Santiago de Compostela

Current debates on and theorizations of (post)secularism lack sustained discussions of the role of pilgrimage tourism, spiritual journeys and sacred places. This article is a theoretically informed and empirically based study that explores contemporary pilgrimage tourism as an arena where ‘post-secular’ praxis and discourse fuse. It identifies the multiple ways in which the ‘post-secular’ is performed through pilgrimage tourism, viz. construction of identities, journeys of becoming and performativity as instances of mobile place making. Contemporary pilgrimage tourism to Santiago de Compostela is polyvalent. Pilgrimages cannot be read off as unambiguously religious, secular or post-secular. Pilgrimage tourism spaces are open-ended such that place identity and meaning are being continuously reworked.     

Serious pilgrims and frivolous tourists the chimera of tourism in the pilgrimages of Sri Lanka

Two important and recently developed currents of pilgrimage in Sri Lanka—the appearance at certain sites of fun-loving and raucous Sinhalese youths, and at others of wealthy Tamil Hindus interested in temple architecture—would appear to be well explained by the concept of tourism. On closer inspection, however, this appearance can be shown to be illusory and to disguise the real meaning of these behaviors within indigenous Sri Lankan modalities of pilgrimage. The paper explores the meaning and utility of the terms “tourism” and “pilgrimage,” and concludes by offering a more useful definition of them than the ones our language persuades us to employ.     

Pilgrimage and religious tourism in Islam

In recent years scholars have engaged with explorations that tried to account for the pilgrimage vs. tourism conundrum. Among the ideas that emerged was defining an integrative category under the heading of religious tourism. This paper makes the argument that from a purely religious perspective pilgrimage in Islam is nothing but the one mentioned in the Quran; namely the Hajj. Therefore, it is argued, that all other religious Muslim motivated journeys constitute a different category which may be termed; religious tourism. By reframing and reconceptualizing Muslim pilgrimage which is ‘beyond the officially sacred’ as religious tourism the paper accounts for a plethora of religious voyages and the entire spectrum of Muslim religious voyages.     

Religious heritage and emerging tourism in the Republic of Georgia

This brief research note describes the current situation regarding religiously based heritage tourism and pilgrimage in Georgia. Heritage in Georgia is almost synonymous with religious heritage. Few countries in the world possess such an intensity of built religious patrimony in a small territory as the foundations of their heritage tourism sector as Georgia does. Georgia is already an increasingly popular destination, but owing to its important religious history, the multitude of ancient churches and holy relics at home there, and the inseparable mix of religious and natural heritagescapes, the country has the potential to develop further in three areas of heritage tourism: domestic pilgrimage; international pilgrimage among Orthodox Christians from Eastern Europe and countries of the former USSR; and non-religious cultural tourists from all over the world.     

朝圣与旅游:一种人类学透析

朝圣和旅游都是人类社会经济和文化发展到一定阶段的现象,是人类有异于日常生活的另一种“生活方式”。本文从人类学视角,透析了朝圣和旅游的关系。“朝圣”是一种宗教意义上的精神文化之旅,旅游是一种现代意义上的精神文化“朝圣”。现代旅游业的发展必须高度关注人类的精神需求与文化体验。     

Muslim world: A study of tourism & pilgrimage among OIC Member States

This study is concerned with tourism in general and pilgrimage in specific among Muslim countries. Reference is made to conditions in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Member States and their travel and tourism industry and the role of religion (Islam) in tourism and society. Selected literature, other relevant documents and data derived from previous studies and personal observations/experiences were examined to provide insights on the subject and to help achieve the objectives of study. Findings revealed that tourism and pilgrimage have great potential in most Muslim countries. However, in general, it constrained by several internal and external factors, which lead the industry's contribution to economic growth and unity among Muslim nations relatively limited.